Boys' Uniformed Group: Activities--Hiking


Figure 1.--These British Scouts are participating in an orienteering exercize. The photograph was probanly taken in the 1960s. Notice the ribbons on one boy's epauletes.

Almost as commonly associated with youth groups as camping is hiking. The Boys' Brigade appears to have given more emphasis to military drill and marching than hiking. Scouts and Wandervogel gave considerable emphasis to more informal hiking in the country side, especially in the early years. Many early images of British and European Scouts show the boys with hiking sticks. This appears to have been more the case in Europe than with American Scouts. There are many more inages available of European boys hiking than American boys. The Hitler Youth also made hiking a major part of the program. I'm less sure about the Communist Young Pioneers.

Boys' Brigade

The early Boys' Brigade appears to have given more emphasis to military-style marching and close-order drill than hiking. This seems to have been more common around or near the the church than in the countryside.

Boy Scouts

The English Scouts from the very beginning changed thge emphasis of te Boys' Brigade from marching and drill to hiking in the countryside. Hiking was a major part of the Scout prigram throughout Europe. This appears to have been more the case in Europe than with American Scouts. There are many more inages available of European boys hiking than American boys. English and European boys with their hiking sticks are very common. Old fashioned hiking it now commonly reffered to as orienteering by the Scouts.

Hitler Youth

The Hitler Youth also made hiking a major part of the program. The existence of many images show that hiking an orientering was an important part of the program. Many early images of the Hitler Youth show the boys hikibng in the countryside in the tradition of the Wandervogel. Often military touches were added to the hiking.


Figure 2.--Notice the hiking sticks that these Dutch Scouts are using. I'm not sure just when this image was taken, but believe it was the 1930s. Notice the long shorts.

Pioneers

I'm less sure about how popular hiking was with the Pioneers. Certainly there would have been hiking at summer camps. I'm less aware of normal Pioneer activities at home. The Pioneer groups seemed to have been organized at schools and thus there may not have been a great interest in hiking. Except for summer camp, the Pioneers appear to have had fewer potdoor activities.

Wandervogel

Hiking in the beautiful German countryside was a mainstay for the Wandervogel, The group gave considerable emphasis to hiking. It was a major part of the Wandervogel program and even expressed in the name of the group. Wandevogel boys like early Scouts are often depicted with hiking sticks. This appears to have been the case for many of the other German groups, many influenced by Wandervogel. which appeared in Germany after World War I.





Christopher Wagner




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Created: December 5, 2000
Last updated: October 23, 2001